Counting to Ten
by Yuuki F
Summary: The mane six count to ten. It's not as trivial as it sounds...


"I thought we could try this!" Twilight exclaimed, holding up a book that read, Teamwork Exercises.

Rainbow Dash immediately rolled her eyes, "Laaaaaaaame."

Rarity hissed, "Rainbow!"

She looked at Twilight before continuing, "Sometimes these things have something fun to try."

Twilight nodded, "Thanks Rarity, but I was thinking...maybe we should start off really simple."

Applejack grimaced, "How so?"

Twilight replied, smiling, "We just count to ten."

There was a small silence.

Pinkie Pie blinked, "That's it? That's easy-peasy!"

Twilight affirmed, "That's it-"

Just as Twilight finished, Applejack sighed loudly and butted in, "Onetwothreefourfive-"

Rainbow Dash butted in, "Threefourten!"

"Dash! That ain't how you count!"

"Sure it is!"

Dash demonstrated with the feathers on her wings, "One. Two. Three. Four," then she suddenly up up ten feathers on her wings, "Ten!"

"Nuh-uh! You have to say all the numbers, Dash!" Applejack spun around to Twilight, "Ain't that right, Twi?"

Twilight chuckled a little, "Well, yes, but what I meant was-"

Applejack interrupted, "See! Now, as I was saying, sixseveneightninete-"

Dash interjected along with Applejack, "ten!"

Twilight facehoofed.

"That ain't right! You never said no five, six, seven, eight, or nine!"

"I did too!"

"Well, I sure did'n hear it!"

Fluttershy piped up, "We have to say it loud enough for everyone else to hear it?"

Twilight groaned, "Fluttershy, don't tell me you were-"

Fluttershy finished her statement, "I already counted to ten, but I guess no one heard me..."

Twilight spoke up, "Girls..."

Rarity fussed her head, "Girls, you're going about it all wrong!"

Twilight took a sigh of relief, "Thank you Rarity!"

Rarity rose to her feet in a dramatic fashion, twirling her hair about in a flashy way, "It obviously has to be said with the right flourish!"

Twilight slumped back down again, "Noooo..."

Applejack blinked, "I don't reckon I know what you mean."

"WELL then, let me demonstrate."

She cleared her throat, and then in a voice eerily similar to a Sesame Street character began, "A-One, ha ha ha, Two, ha ha ha, Three, ha ha ha-"

Twilight moaned, "Girls..."

Pinkie Pie interrupted, "Why are you laughing every time you say a number?"

"Pinkie, I'm not laughing, it's part of the flouris-"

"GIRLS!"

The others stared at Twilight's outburst. "We are just supposed to count _in sequence_. Each of us says one number at a time. The reason it's a _team-building_ exercise, is just to see whether we're organized enough to be able to get ourselves to count to ten."

She thought to herself, _And with the way things are going already..._

There were silent mouthings of comprehension all around. Rarity sat back down.

Pinkie Pie immediately spat out, "One!"

Dash grinned and replied, "Two!"

Pinkie Pie replied again, "Three!"

Applejack and Rarity replied at nearly the same time, "Four!"

They glared at each other. Rarity broke the gaze, "Let's just start again."

Twilight sighed, "Girls..."

Dash started over again, "One!"

Pinkie Pie replied, "Two!"

Dash followed, "Three!"

Pinkie Pie bounced off of Dash, who were now staring at each other, "Four!"

"Five"

"Six"

Rarity waved a hoof, "Wait! Don't we get a turn?"

Twilight sighed, "Yes, everyone has to say at least one number-speaking of which, maybe we shou-"

Applejack nodded, "Alright then, One."

Pinkie Pie bounced up again, "Two!"

Rarity interjected again, "Am I always going to get some number after one?"

Applejack rolled her eyes, "Fine, you can have 'one'."

Rarity nodded, "Thank you, dear."

She paused in suspense, "A-one."

Pinkie Pie bounced, "Two!"

Next was Dash, "Three!"

Pinkie Pie yelled again, "Four!"

Applejack replied, "Five!"

Pinkie Pie kept interjecting between, "Six!"

Rarity and Applejack replied, "Seven!"

The two glared at each other again.

Twilight was rubbing her temples, "Girls. Look, why don't we assign who gets which number, alright?"

There were nodding heads all around as Twilight (with a very relieved face) conjured up a checklist. "O.k., Rarity gets 'one'. Who gets 'two'?"

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof, "Oooo! Me, me!"

"O.k., Pinkie Pie gets two, who gets three?"

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof again before anyone could react, "Mememememe!"

Twilight gave Pinkie Pie a blank stare, she could see where this was going, she said in a flat monotone voice, "Four."

"Meee!"

"Five."

"MEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Six."

"Oh, I know! MEEEEEEEEE-"

"PINKIE, YOU CAN'T JUST HAVE EVERY NUMBER!"

"Wha-Why not?"

Applejack was finally able to butt her way in, "Tain't fair! That's why! Look, why don't we say that a pony can only go at most twice, and they can't go two times in a row."

There were nodding heads all around. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright, thank you Applejack. Alright, then two of us are only going to be able to go once."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash gave confused looks at Twilight.

Twilight gave them indignant looks, _Oh. Come. On._

Twilight rolled her eyes and explained, "If everypony here went twice, then we'd be counting up to twelve."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash blinked.

Applejack narrowed her eyes, _Don't you go using your fancy mathe...mathe...math stuff on me_.

Fluttershy rose her hoof, averting the crisis, "I can go once, Twilight."

"Thanks, Fluttershy, I can as well."

She took another deep breath, "O.k.! Let's start over again! Rarity gets 'one', who wants two?"

"MEEEEEEE!"

"Alright, Pinkie Pie, how about 'three'?"

Rainbow Dash replied, "Yo."

"Four?"

Pinkie Pie bounced.

"Five?"

Rarity raised her hand.

Twilight began mumbling to herself, "I'll take six...let's see, Rainbow Dash, do you want eight?"

Rainbow looked about with beady eyes,"Uh, yeah, sure."

"And who wants nine and ten?"

Applejack raised her hoof, "I'll finish it off."

Rarity puffed her chest, "Then I guess I shall take nine."

Twilight finished writing her checklist, "Alright! Then let's get started!"

Silence.

Rarity looked at Twilight with an apprehensive look, "Now?"

Twilight blinked, "Well, uh, yeah, sure."

She corrected herself in the proper pose, "One."

"TWOOOOO!"

"Three!"

"FOOOOUR!"

"A-five"

"Si-"

Applejack interrupted Twilight, "Wait! Did Rarity get one, five, AND, nine?"

Twilight wanted to pound her head through the floor. They could fight off monsters that threatened the whole of Equestria, but they couldn't count to ten?

Rarity laughed, suspiciously darting her eyes across the room, "Oh my, you're right. You can have five, then."

Applejack nodded her head, "Alright, then, let's start over."

Twilight sighed again, looking at Rarity.

"Oh, right! That's me! One."

"TWOOOOOOO"

"Waitwaitwait," Rarity fussed, "I didn't say it quite right, let's go again."

"Consarnit Rarity!" Applejack stood up and stomped her hoof on the ground, "You're saying the number 'one', y'ain't singing the Equestrian national anthem!"

Twilight rested a hoof on Applejack's shoulder, and whispered in her ear, "Just let it go Applejack, let it go."

Applejack sat back on the cushion and sighed, "Oh all right, go ahead Rarity."

"Hm! Well, thank you Twilight!" Applejack rolled her eyes, "Ahem, a-one."

"TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Everyone stared at Pinkie Pie.

"OOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Rainbow Dash looked at the watch drawn on her hand.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath.

"Th-!"

Pinkie Pie looked at Rainbow Dash, "Dash! I wasn't finished yet! OOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Rarity pawed a hoof at Pinkie Pie, "Pinkie Pie, don't you think that's-"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

Applejack was just about to stomp her hoof.

"-o. O.k.! I'm done!"

Rainbow Dash glared at Pinkie Pie and said in a flat, monotone, "Three."

Pinkie Pie said as fast as should could,"FOUR!"

"Five."

Twilight relaxed upon being able to say hers, "Six."

Then, silence.

Everypony continued to stare at each other, until they suddenly realized.

Twilight hit her head against the floor, "URRRGH! We forgot to assign seven!"

Nearly everyone else face-hoofed.

Twilight pressed a hoof against her chest, "Alright, alright! My bad! But it's fine, I'll go ahead and take seven! Rarity! Start us off!"

"A-one."

"TWOOOOO-"

Rainbow Dash flatly cut her off, "Three!"

"FOURRRR-"

Rarity cut her off, "Five."

"Six."

...Twilight slapped a hoof against her head, "ARRRGH! Did I really just assign myself twice in a row? What is _wrong_ with me today? O.k., Dash, let's switch, you can get seven instead of eight. Quick Rarity, go again!"

By now, everypony in the room was intent on just being able to _do this_.

"One."

"TWOOOO-"

"Three!"

"FOURRRRR-"

"Five."

"Six."

Silence.

Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash, she looked at them with a confused look.

She pointed at herself quizzically. Everypony else nodded.

"S...seven?"

"Eight!"

They were almost there!

"A-nine."

"Ten!"

Twilight started clopping with joy, the others breathed large sighs of relief.

Fluttershy waved a hoof, "Oh, good job."

Everypony froze in their tracks.

Applejack craned her neck over to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy...what number did you have again?"

"Oh, I didn't get one."

Everypony groaned-even Pinkie Pie.

Twilight wanted to jump out of the window, "Then why didn't you say anything?"

"Oh, well, it's just you were having such-and-I," she curled up, "Eep."

Twilight shook her head, "Look, it's alright. It's o.k. everypony, I'll just stick with six and Fluttershy can get eight an-"

Applejack slammed her hoof into the ground, "No it ain't alright! We've fought hydras, and Nightmare Moon, and Discord, an' we seen all matters of trials and trib...tribul...really hard stuff! But we can't get together to count to ten! Consarnitall! Consarn the bickering and the checklists!"

Applejack slammed her hoof into the ground again, "ONE!"

She stared at Rarity until she replied, "T...two."

Applejack turned her glare over at Pinkie Pie, who was uncharacteristically frightened as well, "Th-th-three."

She glared furiously at Rainbow Dash, "Four?"

Twilight was next, "Five."

Then Fluttershy, "S...S...Six-eep"

Applejack brayed, "SEVEN!"

She turned her head to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash didn't say anything.

Applejack glared harder.

Rainbow Dash began sweating profusely.

Applejack got off of her cushion and pushed her muzzle into Rainbow Dash's face.

Rainbow Dash looked away, pretending she could avoid her gla-only to find Applejack now straddling Rainbow.

Rainbow finally pleaded, "Alright! Alright! I forgot which number comes after seven!"

Rather than take in this shocking news, Applejack did what anypony would do at that point-she didn't care, "YOU HEAR THAT EVERYPONY, RAINBOW DASH SAID EIGHT. ALRIGHT? EVERYPONY GOT THAT?"

Everypony else nodded in fear at the self-appointed tyrant. Then there was a pause, as Applejack flitted her gaze among everypony.

A long pause.

A long pause that turned into a long silence.

Rarity finally managed to have the courage to pierce the silence, "A-Applejack."

Applejack hung her head in defeat as she returned to her cushion, "I...I forgot who already went."

Everypony groaned as Rarity flung herself into the air, "ARRRGH! It's hopeless! Hopeless! We'll never count to ten! We. Just. Can't. Do. It!"

She crashed to the ground and began crying melodramatically.

Even Applejack looked on wistfully. "Maybe Rarity is right. Maybe it just ain't something we were meant to do. The Good Celestia provided us with the coun...counten...ability to change the world, but She's trying to tell us to not sweat the small stuff."

Even Pinkie Pie's hair deflated as she had lost her bubbly attitude and descended into the atmosphere of depression and pessimism that filled the room.

Twilight gave them an incredulous look. "Girls. We. Are. Just. COUNTING! TO TEN!"

"I know Twi, but it just ain't meant to be."

Twilight shook her head in disbelief, "Counting! Foals in kindergarten do this!"

Applejack shook her head, with a dejected look that had abandoned hope long, long ago.

Twilight began stomping her hooves, "No. No. No. NO!"

Twilight angrily reinstated her checklist, "Look girls how about this. Rarity goes first. Then Pinkie Pie. THEN Rainbow Dash-WITH THE NUMBER THREE, WHICH COMES AFTER TWO. Then Pinkie Pie. Then Applejack. Then me. Then Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash THEN goes-with the number EIGHT, WHICH COMES _AFTER_ SEVEN-then Rarity gets nine, and finally Applejack finished with ten."

Everypony grunted or moaned consent.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

"Six."

"Seven."

"Eight."

"Nine."

Applejack took a deep breath, "Ten."

Twilight collapsed to the ground.

They did it. They finally did it.

They counted to ten.


End file.
